Olympic Legends – Arvydas Sabonis

KAUNAS (Olympics) - Arvydas Sabonis stands as a giant in the history of international basketball.

Now 46, the Lithuanian legend served as the EuroBasket 2011 ambassador when the competition was staged in his country this past summer.

Sabonis, who is already in the FIBA Hall of Fame and Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, had many a famous moment for clubs in Europe and in the NBA, and many with his national teams.

While his only gold-medal triumph at an Olympics came in 1988 with the former Soviet Union, Sabonis made sure his last impression in the prestigious event eight years later in Atlanta with Lithuania was a magnificent one.

In the bronze-medal game against Australia, the 2.20m center buried three of his four shots from long range and had a game-high 30 points.

He also pulled down 13 rebounds as Lithuania beat Australia, 80-74.

Four years earlier in Barcelona, Sabonis and Lithuania had won the hearts of fans all over the world.

In 1990, Lithuania became the first Soviet republic to declare its independence.

The country was trying to move from a planned economy to a free-market one and there were fears that Sabonis and Lithuania's national team wouldn’t have the finances in place to prepare for, and then compete at the 1992 Olympics.

The American rock group, the Grateful Dead, served as sponsors for the team.

The band licensed Grateful Dead images for production of t-shirts and the sales helped the Lithuanians make it to Spain.

FIBA